eCommerce in Iowa

It seems as though “New York state has won a round in court against Amazon.com over a new law requiring out-of-state online companies to collect sales tax from shoppers in New York — possibly $50 million annual windfall.

The law applies to companies that don’t have offices in New York, but have at least one person in the state who works as an online agent — someone who links to a Web site and receives commissions for related sales.”
(Newsday)

This seems completely incongruous and unconstitutional to assimilate brick and mortar with click and order. Our eCommerce business(es) thrive on doing business across states, across the world. If New York can actually make heads with this ruling, then what would stop other states from jumping on board. Eventually, we would have to (unfairly) file sales tax in each State that required collection, rather than just our own State. Seems asinine if you ask me.

Are we going to start forcing local (Iowa) stores to collect sales tax if they sell to someone in Nebraska? Will eBay need to force sellers to collect sales tax for new products/items they sell?

What are your thoughts and opinions? I want to know…

Christian Connett General, eCommerce amazon tax, new york, sales tax

http://twitter.com/esolutions

Christian Connett General Twitter

It’s time to reflect on this past year.  2008 has been a tremendous year.  We have seen a lot of growth, as well as a few clients close their doors. 

For the last several years we have had many mortgage companies as clients, and of course with the way of the economy they have each had to close their doors.  I personally had a great relationship with most of these guys.  Gateway Mortgage Lending, Iowa Mortgage Associates, Premier Mortgage Funding, etc., etc., etc.  It is truly a shame to see these guys have to close their doors. 

Mr. Alavi at Gateway Mortgage Lending had become a great friend to us.  After 15 years in the business (6 years with us), he had to reluctantly close his doors.  

There is truly something to say about a man who built his company from the ground up… literally.  Mr. Alavi started with his own construction/remodelling company before founding the mortgage firm.  He purchased the old ‘Pizza Ranch’ building on Hickman that used to be across the street from the Bucs Arena.  He completely remodelled the interior with glass walls and enough room for his half a dozen or so brokers.  A few years after that, he moved over to Douglas because his staff had grown to about 15 brokers.  Then moved again just a year or so up the street, once again due to growth. 

The Gateway Mortgage Lending firm included several office staff, accounting, and marketing personnel, as well as over 15 brokers.  I wish him the best of luck (we are still in contact) as I wish all of our mortgage friends the best in their future endeavors.

I still keep in contact with a few of these guys who have pressed on.  Mark (formerly of Iowa Mortgage Associate) now has West Star Mortgage, Mr. Alavi and some of his staff are now working with the State of Iowa.

On the flip-side of this coin, we have welcomed many new clients to the roster this year including Suite Dreams for Kids, Iowa Home Ownership Education Project (IHOEP), Dillon Law PC, Heartland Brick Council, Fortune Unlimited (Scuba Shop Pro), Dental Arts, Unified Contracting and more!

We have also amassed a tremendous client base for our Shopping Cart Made Simple as well as our Printing Division.

In the coming year we plan to expand our Printing and Media services along with continuing great success with our eCommerce and hosting solutions.

I wish you the best in the coming year… here’s to forward thinking…

- Christian Connett
CEO / Web Business Development
eSolutions Interactive LLC

Christian Connett General

We have had such a tremendous response regarding our FREE Shopping Cart Made Simple websites that have decided to extend this offer.  It is still for a limited time (expires August 31st), but you still get FREE setup, FREE phone support, FREE Search Engine Optimization AND Submissions, and your first month is FREE.  Only $40/month after… No hidden fees, no gimmicks, you get a COMPLETE website with our comprehensive admin system that is second to NONE! 

We provide complete support and assitance to get your website up and even help you get your products loaded.  It’s easy.  If you can type an email and use a word processor like Microsoft Word – you can have your very own website and update it with ease – ANYWHERE YOU HAVE INTERNET!

Contact us now, or visit the website – http://www.shoppingcartmadesimple.com

Christian Connett General

For a limited time, for the next 20 new clients (existing clients can add a new store too!) - Shopping Cart Made Simple is waving the normal setup fee ($499.00) to get your own complete, all-inclusive ecommerce website.  You get free design, free hosting, free search engine optimization and submissions, first month free, free domain name, free statistics, and the most comprehensive website platform on the market…

Call or visit the website now: Shopping Cart Made Simple (www.ShoppingCartMadeSimple.com)

Christian Connett General, Resources, Search Engines, eCommerce eCommerce, free, shopping cart made simple

Want to get your company listed in the ‘Local Search Engine Results‘?  Try these links below and submit your company listing to be included!  These are important and helpful resources to getting listed in the search engines, and letting current and potential customers find your business (and website)!

Google Local
Yahoo! Local
Live Local
(MSN/Live pulls information from InfoUSA - a great business listing company in Omaha)

Want to get more great ‘local’ search engine results:
Make sure that you company name and address are at the bottom of most of the pages in your website…

Here are some other resources for listing your website/company.  These are valuable places to list your business because most of these resoures provide results for many other sites/directories.

Verizon SuperPages
Yelp
Merchant Circle
Insiderpages
YellowPages
InfoUSA
Dun and Bradstreet

Added:
Go My Local

Be sure to read these pages and avoid the ‘Premium, Platinum’, or other fancy sales terms.  You can list your business FREE on these sites, and you can get results without paying for it!

Let me know if you have any questions about how these can improve your business traffic and search engine results…

Christian Connett General, Resources, Search Engines business listings, Search Engines

Selling online is quickly becoming the tide to ride.  It’s become a great hobby for many.  I was reading an article about a gentleman that decided to retire, close up shop and start an unrelated online business!  He just wanted to keep himself busy.  I guess being a greeter at Wal-Mart was out.

I recommend Shopping Cart Made Simple.  An all-in-one, easy to use and manage, online ecommerce solution that is second to none.  With more features than any other online storefront, Shopping Cart Made Simple boasts some of the most robust (and useful) tools that will not only ease selling, but ensure that you are getting listed in Search Engines, ensure that your products are represented in the best way… oh yeah, and continue to submit your products to the Search Engines!

Having an online store is easy.  Getting all of your products listed in the Search Engines is easy.  IF you know what you are doing.  Online malls are a joke, they only promote the owner of the site – NOT the retailer/website owner listing their store.  So-called ‘directory’ sites work basically the same way – promoting the owner of the directory – not you!

Get your own store
Cheap. Affordable. Easy. Free. Return on Investment. Powerful. Professional. 
All of the words that best describe what you get when you have Shopping Cart Made Simple work to get you online selling now!

Enough blather… Check it out for yourself, and get educated on the best solution for selling on the web.

http://www.shoppingcartmadesimple.com

Christian Connett General

You need to make the most out of your time, and I have a couple of remedies for you and your precious time!

Here are a few FREE applications that are easy to install and help make your (computer) life more productive.

YouSendIt
One of the oldest temporary file-storage online apps, YouSendIt can handle files up to 100MB in size and is a good site for parking large files for others to download.
www.yousendit.com

Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.5.2
Spybot is one of the oldest and most respected names in the fight against spyware. In addition to combating the online baddies trying to hijack your PC, the latest version features a file shredder and can also wipe your system clean of your Web-surfing tracks. One click of the Search for Updates button keeps you protected from the latest threats. Download now

PrimoPDF 3.2
You don’t need an expensive version of Adobe Acrobat in order to create PDF files. PrimoPDF lets you “print” to PDF format from almost any Windows application, even letting you optimize the file depending on if it’s destined for print or onscreen reading. The utility also provides password protection and encryption (either 40-bit or 128-bit) options for your PDFs, along with the ability to control how the files can be edited by recipients. Download now

Revo Uninstaller 1.42
Many great utilities draw upon features that Windows offers and take them further. Revo Uninstaller goes beyond what Windows does with its Add/Remove Programs function, cleaning up any remnants (like Registry entries) of a removed app that Windows might otherwise miss. It also gathers up files related to broken applications so you can clean them off your system. Download now

CPU-Z 1.43
A tweaker’s godsend, CPU-Z can tell you everything about your PC’s core components, including basic specs such as processor name and RAM amount to overclocking essentials such as clock multiplier and voltage settings. If you want to find out all the crucial information about what’s going on “under the hood” of your machine, CPU-Z is essential. Download now

Quick Startup 2.3
We love any program that can help speed up boot times, because—let’s face it—we use Windows. As you’re probably already well aware, lots of Windows applications take the opportunity to load themselves when you start your PC, whether you want them to or not. Quick Startup shows you all those programs gumming up the works, then allows you to disable the ones you don’t really need to launch at startup. Download now

iDump 24
One of the admittedly few annoyances with owning an iPod is that Apple makes it difficult to transfer files from your device onto a PC, which becomes a headache if you load tracks onto your iPod at work and want to put them on your home computer. A simple solution is iDump, a utility that makes copying songs from your iPod to a computer as easy as selecting tracks and deciding which directory you want iDump to transfer them to. If you’ve filled the player with thousands of files, iDump lets you sort songs by criteria such as artist, album, genre, file size, bit rate, and more. It also has a search function to let you find that one particular track you need to hear on your PC right now. Download now

Free Registry Defrag 2.32
One of the “joys” of an older Windows-based PC is that the Registry gets stuffed with remnants from entries for software programs you’ve deleted from your system altogether. A quick way to give your system a little performance boost is to close up the gaps in your Registry file caused by scattered data. That’s where Free Registry Defrag comes in. It compacts and optimizes your Registry (though it doesn’t remove invalid entries), and it even runs on Windows Vista. Download now

RAM Idle LE 1.5
Another way to give your PC a speed boost is to make it allocate available system memory more efficiently. RAM Idle can automatically balance free RAM available with the needs of the programs you’re running. It also allows you to manually earmark a certain amount of memory for a particular application. If you can’t add more RAM to your system, RAM Idle is a no-cost answer to memory bottlenecks you’re experiencing now. Download now

These applications are free of charge.  The data/links are provided by computershopper.com – These links and apps are tested and found to be safe and sound, however use is at your own risk – I am not liable for ANYTHING that comes of the use/installation/download, etc.

Christian Connett General

Are you thinking about moving your business to ‘Click and Order’?  Have you given it a little thought; a lot of thought?  Well I may have an answer for all of your eCommerce type questions. “Simply the best all-in-one ecommerce shopping cart solution out there.”  How’s that for a bold statement?  How about “Low Cost DOES mean High Quality!”

Let me introduce to you a world-class solution for taking your Iowa business, whether small or large, to the online ecommerce world.   Shopping Cart Made Simple – a simple to understand and use ecommerce system that states “your business didn’t come out of a box and neither should your online store”.  How great is that?  I know that I didn’t start my business out of a box, although my first office sure felt like one.   Shopping Cart Made Simple takes the steps with you – and not just expect you to go it alone and figure things out.  Besides, we all know what happens when you try to do something all by yourself, right?

Here is a few excerpts from the website (http://www.shoppingcartmadesimple.com/) -

Other “online stores” expect you to create your own website and use a generic admin to do so. Shopping Cart Made Simple will tailor your all-in-one e-commerce solution to meet your specific needs, your business didn’t come out of a box and neither should your online store.

I just love that line about your business didn’t come out of a box!  Here’s more -

You will be able to manage your products and inventory from anywhere you have a computer connected to the Internet! We have all the features your looking for without the hassle of hiring a design team or paying too much for your shopping cart system.

I would encourage you to at least check out what Shopping Cart Made Simple has to offer. 
Here are a few bullet points:

• Real-time Credit Card Processing
  • Full integration with Authorize.net, PayPal® , and Google Checkout.
•  On The Fly Shipping
  • Integrated with USPS and/or UPS accounts
•  Search Engine Optimized
  • Dynamically generated HTML pages, Complete control of Page Titles & Meta Tags, Sitemap Generator
•  Robust Product Capabilities
  • Cross-Sell technology, Color swatch options, Thumbnail generator,Multiple pricing, Quantity discounts, Multiple product options, and more
• Take Complete Control
  • Full WYSIWIG editor, additional website pages, contact form and more

Shopping Cart Made Simple has strategic partnerships with some of the biggest names on the Internet, including Google, PayPal, eSolutions Interactive, and more.

You make the decision, and let me know what you think!

Christian Connett General, eCommerce click and order, eCommerce, online store, shopping cart, shopping cart made simple

More than just an ordinary exchange of money between hands… Commerce as we have known it, has grown into an electronic world that welcomes (with open arms) merchants to the power of online shopping.  Seems like yesterday that you had just opened up shop in your very own storefront.  Do you remember what it felt like the first time you hung that ‘OPEN’ sign in the window?  What about that first customer that walked through the door?  Taking the proverbial step forward -> to the online storefront, has never been easier.

Many think that it’s a difficult transition, it’s too complicated to manage my in-store business AND an online business.  Not enough time, not enough knowledge… just not enough you?!!?

So many things to think about – I don’t know how to set up an online store, I don’t know how much it’s going to cost, I don’t know if it’s worth it!  I don’t know if I want to do this online thing.  I don’t know how to get in the search engine result pages, and I don’t even know how to get my products from the garage to the web!

I can change all that… as a matter of fact – I AM GOING TO CHANGE ALL THAT.  Keep reading, keep checking back, and feel free to send comments, questions, suggestions, ideas, cookies, or books.  I welcome you to eCommerce in Iowa – the next step for your business future.

To forward thinking…
- Christian Connett

Christian Connett General, Search Engines, eCommerce ecommerce in iowa, ecommerce iowa, forward thinking, merchants, online business, online shopping, online storefront